Defining "on the Internet"

[Dave Crocker <[e-mail]>]

At 5:01 PM 8/10/94, Mike Bauer wrote:
>There are several good schools that teach both journalism and the
>Internet.  I'm sure you can find any one of several thousand on the
>Net.

Mike, et al,

perhaps we should try to help these neophytes by developing some "standard"
terminology.  The phrase "on the Internet" gets debated about every 5 years
and I guess we are due for another round.  The trick is to have the minimum
number of terms with the maximum useful distinction.  How about these
three:

1.  Attached to the Internet Backbone -- can show up on a ping test

2.  Attached to the Internet Web -- can reach Web servers around the net.
    The "socks" package handily lets such folks get past firewalls, and is
    indicative of having general access to interactive Internet services.

3.  Attached to Internet Email -- can exchange email with someone attached
    to the core.  (Let's avoid the MIME vs. Text-only distinction.  While I
    personally find it important, I'm not sure we should muddy the waters
    at this level.)

Thoughts?

d/

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Dave Crocker                            <[e-mail]>
675 Spruce Dr.                  [phone];  fax: [phone]
Sunnyvale, CA  94086 (USA)